Nyako’s Impeachment: N250m donation splits Adamawa House of Assembly

Trouble is said to be brewing in Adamawa State House of Assembly over the alleged disbursement of N250 million to facilitate the impeachment of Governor Murtala Nyako.

The money, it was alleged, was to be shared to the 25 members to ginger them to impeach the governor, who, recently, accused President Goodluck Jonathan of committing genocide against the North in the name of fighting terrorism.

Each member of the House was to receive N10 million of the money said to have been given to a member of the Adamawa House of Assembly by a popular governor in the country.

The officer, who collected the money, allegedly shortchanged the lawmakers by paying them N8 million each and pocketing the balance. Besides, the plot to oust Nyako was said to have suffered a setback when four of the members rejected the largesse, insisting that they could not work against the governor, who brought them into limelight. Apart from the four members, who rejected the alleged bribe, six others, who allegedly collected, have reportedly sworn not to jump on the bandwagon to remove Nyako, leaving the impeachment protagonists in a dilemma.

Sunday Vanguard gathered that the rejection of the money by the four and refusal of the six others to be part of the plot to remove Nyako is causing unease in the PDP in Adamawa State.
A source told Sunday Vanguard that to be able to remove Nyako, the lawmakers needed 17 members to make up the two thirds majority required by law.

The move to oust the governor intensified last week when the Speaker of the House threatened to declare vacant the seat of any member, who refuses to join the PDP.
Under the circumstance, four members who were in the opposition APC immediately switched their membership to the PDP, making the entire membership of the house to belong to the party.

It will be recalled that before Nyako defected to the APC last December, his former party, the PDP, had 21 members with the former ACN, having three and the defunct CPC, with one member. It was learnt that six candidates, including the deputy governor of the state, Bala James Ngillari, had already positioned themselves as potential successors to Nyako.